Finding My Wings
by StorySongs
Summary: MLP: FiM. The story of Scootaloo's Cutie Mark.


The wind was a strong, constant force roaring in her ears and whipping her mane and tail around. She pushed her tiny wings to their limit, straining for breath and making herself fly _just a little bit faster-_

Then she was tumbling from the air, knocked aside from the gale coming off her fellow young Pegasus competitors as they shot past her. She managed to regain her wings before she hit the clouds, thankfully, and shamefully flapped up to hover to the group gathering around the familiar cyan-coated pegasus.

"Not bad, ponies, not bad!" Rainbow Dash congratulated them, consulting the clipboard in her hooves. "Blue Sky, nice job maintaining speed around that first turn. Whitewing, your altitude control needs some work. Lightblaze, I saw you cut that corner! Two laps around Cloudsdale, go!" The red colt groaned but took off nonetheless- you didn't argue with RD in her trainer mode. Finally, red eyes turned on the last filly.

"Scootaloo… Fly with me. Everyone else take five." Heart sinking, the orange pegasus followed her idol as Rainbow caught a nearby thermal and began circling.

"What's up with you, Scoots? Everyone else in this little camp has been improving every day, but you're still coming in dead last four times out of five. Even with the head starts you've been earning in the trick competitions." A gentle hoof ruffled her mane. "I know you've been trying your heart out, everypony can see that, so what's going on? Am I not teaching you right?" Scootaloo shook her head violently.

"No, no! It's not that, Rainbow- you're an amazing teacher, and everything you've taught me about wing angles and lift and wind resistance has really been helping, but I just can't seem to make it _work_ like you and everyone else! I just can't pick up and maintain speed like the others do. I'll never be a great flyer like you are…"

"Hey! Don't give me that!" Rainbow gently whapped the orange filly over the head with her wing. "You've improved in leaps and bounds since you were a foal. Maybe you're just a late bloomer, Scootaloo. Besides…The world would implode if everyone was as awesome as I am!" Scootaloo had to laugh as Rainbow preened, lazily doing a flip in the air like the show-off she was.

"You just gotta find your own wings, kid. Don't worry about trying on everyone else's." RD locked her in an affectionate head-noogie before releasing her. "C'mon, it looks like 'Blaze is back. We're done for today, and I've got an announcement to make." Scootaloo sighed and followed the older mare, but not before chancing a disappointed look at her _still_ blank flank.

They gathered on a nearby cloud, the young Pegasi looking at their teacher expectantly. Rainbow paced before them, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"As I'm sure you've all heard, the legendary Skydancers are on tour across Equestria, and one of their stops is in Cloudsdale. The tickets sold out almost immediately, of course, but I pulled a few strings… And I just so happen to have four extra tickets." There was stunned silence for a moment before Rainbow was tackled by four enthusiastic young pegasi.

"Wait, wait, there's more! Spitfire, the Wonderbolts leader, is friends with Evanescence, the Skydancers leader, and, long story short, they agreed to give us a personal demonstration and let us practice some of their moves!" Whitewing flat out fainted and Blue Sky looked like he was about to do the same. Rainbow Dash just grinned wider.

"Now am I a great teacher, or am I the most AWESOME teacher?"

* * *

"Alright now, young ones. This is one of the simpler moves in Skydancing- it's harder than it looks to get the timing and airspeed right, so don't worry if you don't succeed in your first try." Evanescence, a beautiful dark purple mare whose coat shone with green and blue undertones, drifted into the slow floating twist with an ease that spoke of long practice and a lot of inborn ability. What made Skydancing difficult, another performer had explained, was the speed at which the maneuvers were performed- almost slow enough to stall out, with the wings held still and gliding on the fewest downstrokes physically possible. It was a far cry from the Wonderbolt's famous high-speed stunts, but just as difficult in its own way.

That point was driven home as the group watched Rainbow Dash stall out in her first attempt, dropping altitude suddenly and forcing her to dive to regain her momentum. She flapped back to their height with a laugh and a sheepish grin.

"You're right, that's a lot harder than it looks. C'mon guys, give it a try!" She attempted the maneuver again with the same result, and the rest of the young pegasi followed suit. Scootaloo hung back, scraping her hooves anxiously together- if Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in Ponyville, couldn't manage the trick…What chance did she have?

"Is something wrong, little filly?" Evanescence hovered beside her, deep blue eyes gentle and warm. Scootaloo shook her head nervously.

"No, I just don't think I'd be able to do it right." The mare laughed.

"Well, you'll never know until you try! Give it a go. Don't worry about messing up, everyone does their first go-round." She grinned a little wider and winked at the younger pegasus. "I won't even go into how many times I fell out of the sky when I first started learning." Scootaloo couldn't help but laugh. She gulped nervously as Evanescence moved back, then took a deep breath before beginning the twist.

With the air moving so much slower around her, she actually had time to think about what she's doing- but it turned out she didn't need it. Her wings instinctually positioned themselves in the right place to propel her through the slow, elegant flip without falling. She took a breath as she pulled out of it, blinking in surprise as she watched Evanescence's jaw drop open.

"Very, very good Scootaloo!" The mare called, making everyone turn and look at her. Scootaloo blushed, but Rainbow Dash beamed.

"You did it, Scoots? That's awesome! How'd you do it?" The orange pegasus rubbed a hoof through her mane.

"Um, I just did what felt right…" She tried to explain what had happened, but couldn't put it into words so she just did the twist again. It felt as easy as breathing.

Rainbow Dash and the others continued to fall out of the sky trying the simple maneuvers, but Evanescence let Scootaloo move on to more advanced tricks- each one of which felt as easy as the first. By the end of the session Scootaloo and Evanescence were flying in synch through a complicated dance, floating through the air like oversized butterflies.

Scootaloo closed her eyes in bliss as she drifted through the air. This type of flying was so much more graceful than Rainbow's usual 'hit-the-wind-with-all-you've-got' style, and it came to her so much easier. It was almost like… This was how she was meant to fly…

A burning tingle on her flank startled her out of the pattern, pulling up into a hover to turn and gape at her hip. Where before there had been only orange fur… There was now an elegant pink-and-orange butterfly, it's wings spread gracefully as if ready to dance on the wind.

Her shriek of joy brought the other pegasus crowding around her excitedly, with Rainbow Dash the first to tackle her in a hug. The cyan pegasus held her tightly with an ear-to-ear grin.

"See, Scootaloo? I told you- you just had to find your own pair of wings. Not everyone flies the same."

Scootaloo couldn't help but beam, falling into a complicated spin with her eyes closed in joy.

* * *

_Dear Princess Celestia… _

_Hey Princess, it's Rainbow Dash. Long time no speak, huh? I'm not sure if you're even still reading these letters, but I wanted to share. _

_A little pegasus filly who's almost a sister to me got her Cutie Mark today, and her talent is Skydancing- a type of flying that's pretty much the exact opposite of what I do. It drove home a point that sometimes we forget- we're all good at something, but no one's good at everything. If you're discouraged by what you're doing, maybe trying something completely different can show you what you're really good at._

_Tell Luna and Cadance and Twilight hello and that I miss them! Twi's coming back to Ponyville for Hearth's Warming Eve, right? Everypony's looking forward to seeing her again. _

_Yours Truly, _

_-Rainbow Dash_

_P.S.: Thanks for the tickets. _

The Princess rolled up the letter with a smile, bowing her head and looking out at the morning sun.

No matter how many times it happened, helping somepony find their special talent always made her heart glow warm in her chest.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This has been in my head ever since I saw G3 Scootaloo's Cutie Mark (which is pretty generic, just a butterfly) and tried to think of ways to incorporate it into her G4 character. In my headcanon this is set a little while (a year or so) after the current series, so Rainbow's a little less arrogant and Scootaloo is a little less wild. And has learned to fly. :p

My first MLP fanfic, woohoo!

Review if you feel like it. I hope you enjoyed!

-SS


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